Wat can I do to convince you to visit Ayutthaya? (Ayutthaya)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	Ayutthaya
Date:	15/01/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, interesting place.

Disadvantages: None!

As some of you who often read my reviews will know, I visited Thailand last year and one of the places I went to was Ayutthaya. The city is made up of two parts, one that is encircled by a river, the inner city, and the part outside the river, the outer city.

Some history
Ayutthaya was founded in 1351 by U Thong, who later became a Thai King. The city was the capital of Thailand from around 1450 until about 1890. The population of Ayutthaya grew enormously until at one stage it was home to over one million people. The Burmese came and set fire to the temples and ransacked the city, stealing the gold in the 18th Century. In 1991, Ayutthaya was made a UNESCO World Heritage Sight.

What is there to see?
Firstly, there is a tourist information place in Ayutthaya, where the people speak at least enough English to understand you and communicate back. I went there and I found them very friendly and helpful. They gave me some brochures which were useful. The only negative is that by the time you get there, you have bypassed half of the things to see. Therefore I would advise printing off a map online or contacting them before hand to get some information.

Ayutthaya is a really beautiful place. I only visited inside the city because to visit outside you really need a car, which I did not have, as the roads are fast and not suitable for pedestrians or cyclists. That's ok though, as most of the sights are in the inner city. It is perfectly possible to walk around for one day and see most of what the city has to offer. Once you have got off the boat, follow the road straight ahead for about ten minutes, crossing two or three roads that run perpendicular, and you will come to two temples, or Wats, as they are known in Thailand. This is where your sightseeing begins, and from here almost all of the walking or cycling you will do will be through parks. (I should mention at this point that there is an extremely dangerous park on the outskirts of the inner city. However, none of the sights I am about to mention involve going through it, if you start off from the train station as I have described above.)

So, the first two Wats that you will come to are Wat Phra Mahathat and Wat Ratburana. It is interesting to know that the latter has a crypt which was actually in the television show called Around the World in 80 Treasures, with Dan Cruickshank. To be fair, with Wat Phra Mahathat, you can see most of it without going in, and Wat Ratburana is, I think, more interesting and more beautiful.

To the left of Wat Phra Mahathat, you will see a path through a park which will lead you to more Thai treasures. The walk through the park is beautiful, and you will cross a small bridge and walk down a path lined with trees. At the end of the path, you can turn left and visit a traditional Thai teak house. (This is also where the public bathrooms are, which I used and found to be spotlessly clean. They charge about twenty pence to use them.)

If you continue on from the teak house, you will come to a sort of elephant show ground. Here you can watch the elephants perform or ride them. I did not want to do this as I think it is cruel.

If you cross the road, past the elephants, you will come to a market that sells a range of Asian goods. I had a little look around here but did not buy anything.

Backtracking now, across the road and past the elephants again, you will see ahead of you another two beautiful temples, one of which is actually new! This is called Wat Phra Mongkohn Bophit and it is simply spectacular inside, with an enormous Buddha. This is free to enter. The other temple nearby is the one on all of the pictures of Ayutthaya- Wat Phra Si Sanphet. This was built to look like the Grand Palace in Bangkok and it is very beautiful.

Ayutthaya has even more sights to offer, but these were my favourite ones.

Most of the sights have an admission fee of between fifty pence and one pound, and you must take your shoes off when entering temples and the teak house. There will be a sign to tell you when.

Getting there
Ayutthaya is slightly north of Bangkok. I went by train, from Bangkok's Hualamphong train station and it took about two hours. However, we were late departing from Bangkok by about forty minutes. Also it is useful to know that the trains from Bangkok to Ayutthaya only go early in the morning or in the evening, so you'll either have to make an early start or stay overnight (not a bad thing!). My ticket cost less than one pound.

Hualamphong is staffed by people that speak English. They wear badges to identify themselves. It goes without saying that you should be careful about talking to strangers who approach you, especially in bus and train stations! They will spot a foreigner a mile off and probably approach you and ask you in English if you need any help. I asked them because the ticket staff do not speak English.

Bangkok's Hualamphong train station is accessible by bus, or, even better, by using the MRT, and it is the stop at one end of the line. The MRT station staff will know where you want to go if you ask them for Hualamphong when you buy the token.

Getting back
There are buses that leave from the market in Ayutthaya, which is next to the where the river boat drops you off. They are slightly more expensive than the train, but have more frequent departures and make the journey to Bangkok in about an hour and a half.

The last train leaves Ayutthaya about seven o'clock in the evening, to go back to Bangkok, and again takes about two hours, plus delays!

Arriving
If you arrive by train, you will need to walk out of the train station (there is only one exit), down the road straight in front of you, and to the river, where for about ten pence you get a boat that crosses it. The crowd will be walking this way so follow them!

Where to stay
Ayutthaya has several places to stay. You can find these by looking in a Lonely Planet/Rough Guide, by asking other travelers who have been there, or by using a website such as hostelworld. I stayed in the Ayutthaya Place Youth Hostel, which was cheap (about fiver pounds per night), and which was clean and staffed by friendly people. I would recommend it.

Useful websites
www.thailandforvisitors.com/central/ayuthaya/oldc ity.html
http://www.bangkoksite.com/AyutthayaPage/index.ht m
http://www.tourismthailand.org/about-thailand/
www.hostelworld.com

Summary: Ayutthaya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Thailand